newby2

Hi

So I assume its also not necessary for IR-1 visas right?

Thanks!

Thanks! Good luck with yours too!

Hi

We had our interview last week ad I finally wanted to post a review for everyone still waiting for theirs!

So we had an 8.00 appointment but got there at 6.45 just to make sure. We were the first people there and started queuing. At 7.30 the line was getting longer and they put a small desk out and started checking peoples invitations. My husband (the USC) had to show his passport and they wrote his name on the letter. A security guy then checked the letter ad our passports again before we went into a small building where they did like a security check like at the airport (no cell phones, car keys etc allowed!).

We then went inside and showed the letter again to the receptionist. She then said we should take a seat next to window 1 (we were the first people in). She said the interviews would start at 8.

We were the first people to be called to the window and an Asian lady started taking our documents (birth certificate and marriage certificate). She then took my fingerprints which was a bit of a process, then asked for police certificates and passport pics (she only took 2 of the 3 I brought). Then I think we had to give her the affidavits (turns out you only need 1 copy of those, we had brought 2 so she kept throwing things back at us). We used my husbands mom as a co-sponsor and it turned out that we needed a copy of her passport or birth cert with it, which I wasnt aware of! I started panicking a bit when she said I may have to come back etc but my husband actually knew it was needed and had it on his email. She also asked what we had done to prepare for the move and I showed her a letter to the landlord stating that we were moving out and a statement showing the return of the deposit (all of which I had just printed out last minute the night before!)I dont think she even kept those documents. Then after I paid the fees at a different window (they had just been increased.. ) my husband left the embassy and went to an internet cafe to get the copy off his email and print it which ended up costing 3 pounds for 15 mins..

In the meantime the lady had given me an envelope with a CD with my medical data that she said I would need at immigrations and told me to sit down again and wait for the actual interview which would start at 9.

Luckily, my husband got back in time for it and we handed in the copy to the lady.

A little later they called us to the interview with a different lady. First thing I had to swear an oath that all the info given was correct etc - felt slightly weird but is part of the process I guess! Then she asked when we had gotten married, when I was last in the US, if we had jobs yet, what my husband was planning on doing and when he was moving. I think that was it. Then she looked through the paperwork quickly and told us the visa was approved *yay* so then we went to pay for the courier service and were out by about 9.30 - much quicker than we thought!

I probably forgot some of what happened but thats roughly it and its really not that bad as long as you re prepared. My passport was delivered yesterday and I am flying in 3 weeks time!

Good luck to everyone who still needs to go through all this!

Go with reestablishing domicile. I don't think the evidence you have of a temporary absence is sufficient. Most people who are U.S. citizens living abroad would have that.

But that's just my opinion. Some consulates do not really take a hard line on domicile, but you might want to beef up the reestablishing proof a bit. All of the items you have that you list as proving temporary absence can be used as secondary evidence for reestablishing domicile.

Thanks, thats very helpful! Will go for reestablishing and use all evidence then!

Thanks!

Hi,

Not both. Really only you can decide what he is going to prove. What evidence do you have that he only left the U.S. temporarily? Does he have any proof that says he: (from 9 FAM 40.41 page 28)

1) Departed the United States for a limited, and not indefinite, period of time;

2) Intended to maintain a U.S. domicile at the time of departure; and,

3) Can present convincing evidence of continued ties to the United States.

If so, then perhaps that is the way to go, but after an absence of 3 years you are probably better off just proving you are reestablishing domicile, in my opinion.

Thanks! He has evidence for both I think.

For just temporarily living abroad he can show

- his voting record

- bank statement

- drivers license

- mailing address at his moms house

For reestablishing he could show

- confirmation of him taking college classes from end of Aug

- booked plane ticket

So not sure which one to do.. What does everyone think?

Hi

Finally got our interview date today and are getting the last bits & pieces together.

I was wondering - we have lived in London for almost 3 years now so does that mean my husband (USC) needs to prove that he is just living abroad temporarily OR that he is reestablishing domicile? Or both?

It says that there are different sort of supporting documents for the two - which one do we go by?

Many thanks!

that is strange! We sent off the DS230 (part 1 and 2) mid June and the DS2001 a few days later and received the interview date in the post today!

Have you scheduled your medical yet? I had my date when I sent off the DS2001 - maybe that speeds things up?

Hope you ll find out soon!

Even without any money, he is still the primary sponsor and needs to fill out a I-864, including tax returns (or a letter stating why he was not required to file with the IRS if he was unemployed for the last three years.).

He will need to show that either he never abandoned US domicile or is intending to re-establish it; you will bring proof to the interview. I believe it is mentioned on the I-864, but it's been a while for me!

Yes, bring bonafide proofs, just in case. That being said, him living abroad with you is a big proof already, and many DCFers never get asked to show bonafides.

Thanks, thats very helpful. I assume we also need his mom to fill one an I-864 as well though?

He is still registered at his mom's address, has a a bank account, valid drivers license and has done postal votes - is that enough proof?

Thanks so much!

Hi

I just have a couple of quick questions before sending off the DS 2001.

We ve pretty much got all the things they mentioned on their list (birth certificates, marriage certificate, police certificates..).

My husband (the sponsor)lives with me in the UK and doesn't have a job (and income or enough assets) sorted in the US so we got his mom to be our co-sponsor and fill out the I-864. Is that the right thing to do or does he still need to fill one out himself?

Also, I see people talking about the issue of re-establishing domicile.. I have not come across that in the embassy lists of things to do and get prove for - when does that come into play?

Lastly, it also doesn't mention having to bring any sort of prove of a bona fide relationship to the interview - I assume we should still do that and bring pictures, emails etc?

I was looking to send the DS 2001 off today as we are going on holiday tomorrow and it says it will take another 4 to 6 weeks until they give is the interview date (or is it that we will have the interview in 4-6 weeks' time?)but now I am having doubts about the stuff we need etc..

Would really appreciate your help with the questions! Thanks so much!

Hi

I am a bit lost now. We received packet 3 in the post and I just finished filling out the DS-230. Then it says on the website once you have all the documents you need for the interview you send them DS-2001 and then they give you info on the medical and the interview.. However, on the DS-2001 it asks for the date of the medical?!

I thought now that I have the case number I can make an appointment for the medical and send them the DS-2001 back once I have all the documents? Or do I need to wait?

Any help would be really appreciated!

Thanks,

Lisa

We received that letter about 3 weeks ago and were wondering the same thing! But apparently it doesnt need to be notarized! So just get someone to write & sign them and that should be good enough

Good luck!

Sorry, I came across another issue when I went to the doctor.

I need to have the Tdap vaccine. I have Td but never had the pertussis part. As they dont have a pertussis-only vaccine but only with Td and I just had the Td a couple of years ago, they wont give it to me..!

Has anyone had a similar problem and know what to do?

Thanks

HPV is no longer required.

If you go to the USCIS website and look up the I-693 form - there are links to the vaccination technical instructions and other documents on the USCIS site that discuss this.

It was changed in December of 2009.

Hi Bernie

That is great news! Thanks so much!

Hi

I have an appointment with my GP tomorrow morning to get the vaccinations I am missing. I just wet through the list of required vaccinations again and realized they have 2 slighlty different ones on the consulate website!

One (http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/visa/iv/vaccinechart.html) says nothing about the Hauman Papilloma Virus whereas the other one (the medical letter: http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/visa/forms/IV018a_IV_medical_letter.pdf)does

As its by far the most expensive one I dont want to get it if I dont need to! Does anyone know if its necessary (by the way, I am female, 24 years old)?

Thanks so much

Thanks very much, we're getting there! I am sure there will be more questions when we get the rest of teh forms to fill out.. but many thanks for now!

If you need it for interview in Germany, it doesn't need translating but it's a good idea to get it translated anyway. No it doesn't have to be by a certified translator but they will need to sign and date a statement that they are conversant in German and hereby certify that the translation is true and accurate. There is some exact wording floating around the forums, I'll come back and update if I find it.

That makes things much easier! I will have my interview here in London so I assume it definitely needs to be translated.

Thanks and good luck for your medical!

The "einfache" (sounds weird), as the "other" one is reserved for German Government issues.

Thanks very much Chrito and JustBob!

One last question regarding this: I assume the certificate will need to be translated into English - can any German native speaker do this for me or does it need to be a professional translator? And will it need to be notarized as well?

Thanks!

Polizeiliches Fuehrungszeugniss.

Thanks Bob

I know its called a Polizeiliches Führungszeugniss but they said they have 2 or 3 different ones depending on what the organisation its for wants.. Any idea which one it would be?

Hi

I need to get a German police certificate but when I went to order one they told me that they had several different kinds.. Does anyone know which one is needed (just the standard one or with 'apostille' etc.)?

I haven't received the letter saying from the US embassy that I need one yet (or which one if it would say that) but thought I should get the whole process started as soon as possible..

Any help is really appreciated!

Thanks

Hi

We just received a letter asking us to send in an affidavit explaining how we met etc as well as 3 affidavits by other people confirming our marriage is legitimate.

We have a couple of questions regarding this:

- It says "Affidavits do not need to be notarized" - just to make sure: this means no lawyer needs to be involved in this, right?

- Each of the affidavits needs to include the following statement: "I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct." Do the third party affidavits need to be submitted by US citizens as they make their declaration under US law? Or can they be of any nationality?

Thanks so much!

Thanks Tommy & Riza!

I have another question:

On the G325a it says to list all addresses for the past 5 years. We were both travelling for a few months in 2005/2006. I was moving on all the time but my husband actually lived at one specific address in Australia for 3 months - should this be listed on the form? Or should we just give our home country address for the time travelling and add a separate note explaining we were travelling? Or any other suggestions?

Thanks very much, almost ready to submit the I-130 and G325a!

Thanks guys, very helpful!!

Hi

We are just getting everything ready to file our application at the consulate in London and I just have a couple of questions regarding the G325aa dn I-130.

On the bottom of page 1 on the G325a it says:

This form is submitted in connection with an application for

1) Naturalization

2) Status as Permanent Resident

3) Other

I am applying for the visa as my husband is American and we re planning to move there in the fall so I assume it should be "Status as Permanent Resident"!? Just wanted to make 100% sure

Also it says on the checklist that we should provide the petitioner's email address on teh bottom of page 1 on the I-130. There doesnt seem to be a particular space for it so do we just write it by hand next to the "bar code"?

Thanks so much!

Thanks very much, very helpful info!

Hello

I am German and married to a US citizen and we currently live in London. We are planning on moving to the US in late summer/fall (for the first time) and I just wanted to make sure I understand all the options we have.

We can either go for an immigrant visa and file an I-130. According to the US Embassy website for London there is a backlog of applications and it currently takes them about 3 months to even review the documents you send them, so I am correct in thinking the whole process will take about 10 months (3 months waiting plus the 7 months this site says it usually takes)?

Second option would be to file for an I-130 and then a K3 to try and speed up the process. But it seems that this would really only save about 1 month and we would still have to do more paperwork once we got there and before I would be able to work.. Is that correct?

Is there any way to move to the US and then start the application process, so we don't have to wait here until everything has been approved and for me to be able to work quickly?

Also, my passport is running out in June. Is it possible to only send them a copy of my birth certificate with the application or a copy of the old passport and advise them of the new passport details later?

Thanks so much for your help, really appreciated!